A Christmas Date
by Foodie
Summary: Draco takes his favorite niece out for a day on the town during the Christmas season that she'll never forget. Part of the True Revenge universe.


So, this is just a fun little story I wrote a few weeks ago, with the intentions of posting it closer to Christmas. This is a part of the True Revenge universe, a little glimpse of the future for Teecie and her family. Alison Lupin is the youngest child, and only daughter of Teecie and James Lupin. I had a lot of fun writing this, and I hope you have fun reading it. So consider this my Christmas gift to all my wonderful readers out there. Happy reading and Happy Holidays!

-Foodie

A Christmas Date

Some of Alison Lupin's happiest memories were of her Uncle Draco. He was her favourite person in the world, next to her parents, of course. Alison loved the memories she had of her uncle, like the week every summer she stayed at Black Manor, making potions with him, or the wonderful birthday gifts he always gave her. But her favourite memory of him was the time when she was five, when he took her out on her first "date."

The week before Christmas, Uncle Draco took Alison out to London for the day. Their first task was to go shopping for a Christmas dress. Draco had a long list of what he wanted for Alison's dress, and Madam Malkin seemed very happy to oblige. "I don't want her dress to look like all the other little girl's dresses. It needs to stand out," he said while looking through her selection of green fabrics.

Draco and Malkin worked for over an hour on the design of the dress while Alison wandered through the store, gazing at all the lovely clothes and fabrics. But finally, the dress was ready, and Madam Malkin helped her put on her new outfit.

Alison felt like a pampered princess. She felt rich beyond her wildest dreams in her evergreen velvet dress with matching stockings. And she felt as though she was floating on a cloud as she wore the most beautiful silver slippers upon her feet. Two barrettes that looked like holly leaves held back her auburn curls. Her face beamed as she put on a fashion show for her uncle.

"I'm so beautiful!" Alison squealed as she gave Draco a hug.

"Yes you are," he replied with a smile. "You look like a proper young lady."

Alison's face flushed with pride. Uncle Draco was always telling her how important it was to always act like a proper lady, so that was a very high compliment from him.

When Uncle Draco was satisfied with the clothes, and Alison had put on her wool coat and white kid gloves, he took her by the hand, and led her into Muggle London. There were so many sights to see, she didn't know where to look first. Twinkling fairy lights hung down from shop windows and trees, and made her feel as though she'd entered a truly magical world.

Alison squealed again as she peered into a toy shop window. "Uncle Draco, look! It's Chief of Surgery Barbie, and Male Nurse Ken!" she cried while pointing out the dolls. "I think Ken is in love with Barbie," she said while blushing. "Mummy said she might get them for me for Christmas."

Draco fondly recalled her mother showing him a similar set of dolls. Ticia had certainly loved Barbie dolls when she'd been Alison's age. He smiled and patted Alison's head. "I'm sure your mother will get them for you," he replied. He never could figure out why girls were so fascinated with dolls. Those dolls in particular weren't very realistic-looking, and he didn't approve of the body proportions at all. He much preferred the Wizarding equivalent, which looked like normal people. It was all he'd allowed his daughters to play with while growing up.

"Why don't we see what other dolls they have inside?" Draco asked while leading Alison into the shop. There were toys as far as the eye could see. Large toys that blinked and made noises when you pushed buttons, electronic games, musical instruments, and hundreds of dolls lined the shelves of the shop.

Alison looked around with her eyes as wide as saucers, and her mouth agape. She'd never seen so many toys before. "Wow, Uncle Draco…look at it all…" she murmured. She clung tightly to his hand while he steered her over to the dolls.

"Look at these, Alison," Draco said while pointing to the shelves. "Do you like any of these?"

Alison walked up and down the shelves of dolls, looking carefully at them all. One of them stood out to her. It was an old-fashioned china doll. It wore a red pinafore dress, and matching bonnet. It also came with a small hope chest full of other outfits.

"Oh, Uncle Draco, isn't she beautiful?" Alison said breathlessly.

"Yes, she's very beautiful. Would you like her?" Draco asked with a smile.

"Really?" Alison cried while hopping up and down and clapping her gloved hands together.

"Really," Draco replied while plucking the doll and hope chest off the shelf and taking it to the woman behind the counter. A few minutes later, Alison skipped happily out of the toy store while tightly clutching her new doll. "What will you name her?" Draco asked as they walked down the street.

Alison thought about this for a moment before smiling. "I'll name her Lisandra," she said, referring to her favourite cousin. Alison thought Lisandra was the coolest person in the world. She was beautiful too, with long blonde hair. The doll had blonde hair too.

Draco smiled and squeezed Alison's hand when he heard this. "I'm sure Lisandra will be very proud to hear that," he replied.

After looking in a few more stores, Draco led her to a very fancy-looking restaurant. She stood close to him, and gazed at all the sights as he talked to the hostess. The inside of the restaurant was dimly lit with candles on every table. Dark wood walls and floors made Alison feel as though she was inside a castle. It made her not want to speak, for it was all too grand.

A few minutes later, the hostess led Draco and Alison to a table by the front windows. Draco helped Alison settle into her chair, making sure to push her close to the table, before seating himself. The hostess handed them each a menu. When the two were alone again, Alison started to look at her menu, but struggled to hold both it, and Lisandra, at the same time. "Why don't you set your doll down while we're inside," Draco suggested.

Alison bit her lip and clutched the doll tightly. "But I don't want her to go on the floor," she whispered.

Draco looked around for a moment before standing up. "Here, why don't we do this," he said while pulling out the chair next to her and setting the doll on it. Next, he pushed the chair closer to Alison, and pushed it towards the table. "Now she's right next to you," he said while sitting down again.

"Thank you Uncle Draco," Alison replied with a grin. With that problem solved, she began to look at her menu. She couldn't read anything, but tried her best to make out the letters she recognized. "B…F…R…" she said while pointing to the letters on the menu. "What does that spell Uncle Draco?"

Draco looked to where she was pointing. "Belgian Fois Gras," he replied. "It's duck liver that's very rich and delicious. They sauté it with duck breast and serve it with a cranberry port sauce. Does that sound good to you?"

Alison wrinkled her nose. "No," she replied firmly.

Draco read every item on the menu off to Alison, but nothing sounded like something she would eat. Who in their right mind ate snails? Or fish eggs? "Muggles sure eat weird food," she finally sighed.

Draco cleared his throat and leaned in to speak quietly to her. "Alison, we don't use the word 'Muggle' in public, remember?" he said firmly while looking around to see if anybody had heard them.

Alison bit her lip and curled her legs up on her chair. Tears filled her eyes and she looked at her beloved uncle. "You're yelling at me," she whimpered.

Draco took a deep breath while rolling his eyes. "Alison, I was not yelling at you," he replied. "Now, let's decide what you want for lunch today."

"I want a cheeseburger and chips."

"They don't have those on the menu."

"But that's what I want."

"You'll just have to find something else, Alison."

"What are you going to eat?"

"I don't know yet."

When the server came to take their order, Draco leaned forward and grabbed her menu. "What did you want, Alison?" he asked.

Alison frowned and looked pleadingly at him. "I want to do it," she whispered, while reaching out for the menu.

"All right," Draco said while handing the menu back to her.

Alison squealed and wriggled in her seat once more while turning to the server. "I want a cheeseburger and chips, please," she said while handing her menu to the woman.

The server saw the look of astonishment on Draco's face and quickly smiled. "Don't worry sir, even though it isn't on our menu, I'm sure our chef can easily make your wonderful niece a cheeseburger and chips," she assured him.

Draco thanked her before ordering a filet mignon before the server took his menu. She returned a minute later with a basket of buns, a glass of red wine for Draco, and a glass of soda for Alison.

The two ate buns and chattered while their food was being prepared. Alison told him all about the latest goings-on with her family. "Last week, Nicky and Sev had a sleepover at the same time as Annie and me had one, and Nicky put a worm on my pillow. I screamed and then daddy yelled at them. It was funny," she giggled.

"And yesterday, Stuart gave me a piggy-back ride all around the entire house! He's the strongest boy in the world," she continued.

By the time Alison had run out of things to say, their food arrived. Alison thought she'd never seen a more delicious-looking cheeseburger before in her life. The bun didn't have any of those icky seeds on them. And there were no onions or mustard, all the things she hated. The gooey cheddar cheese melted down the sides of the burger, and the chips were hot, crispy, and salty. Everything was perfect.

After a few minutes, she looked at Draco, who seemed to be enjoying his food as well. "Is that steak? Daddy loves steak, and so does Grandpa Remus," she said while sitting forward to look at his plate. "What's that green stuff?"

Draco cut a small piece of the asparagus spears on his plate, and held his fork out for her to try. Alison took the bite and chewed it cautiously. One had to be careful with green food. It often tasted gross. "That's called 'asparagus,'" Draco replied while she swallowed.

"It's pretty green," she said. "I want to try the steak."

"This is 'filet mignon,'" Draco said while cutting off a very small piece for her.

Alison chewed the meat while her eyes grew wide. "This is delicious Uncle Draco! No wonder my daddy loves it so much!" After another minute, though, she returned to her own meal.

"How do you like your food, Alison?" he asked halfway through the meal.  
Alison sighed happily, and set her cheeseburger on the plate. "Oh, Uncle Draco, this is the best meal I've ever had in my very whole life!" she exclaimed before taking a bite of a chip.

Draco smiled. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," he replied.

When they'd finished, the server asked if they'd like to see the pudding menu. Draco looked at Alison, who grinned impishly and nodded her head vigorously, before asking for a menu. She settled on a dish of strawberry ice cream with fudge sauce and sprinkles on top. Draco ordered the linzer torte.

Both of them quite enjoyed their puddings, and thought it was the perfect ending to a most wonderful meal. When they were done, Draco stood outside the lady's restroom door while Alison freshened up.

Alison felt full of energy when they left the restaurant, and Draco finally took her to a park to run around before their next stop. She had fun playing on the swings and climbing on the jungle gym. She only fell off once, when her foot got caught on one of the bars, but Draco was quickly at her side, and quietly healed her cut knee, and repaired her sullied clothes.

While Alison played, Draco held onto her doll, and kept a very close eye on his niece. Alison was uncannily like her mother at the same age. He couldn't help but wonder if Alison would be the handful her mother had been at Hogwarts. James was going to have plenty of sleepless nights worrying about his only daughter, no doubt.

Once Alison had worked off enough energy to remain calm again, Draco took her by the hand, and led her a few blocks away, over to the opera house. Since it was Christmastime, they were performing the Nutcracker ballet. Alison actually screamed with delight when Draco told her they'd be seeing a performance that afternoon.

There was already a crowd of families standing around outside when they arrived. Most of the other girls had special Christmas dresses on too, but Alison thought hers was the prettiest. She was holding Lisandra in her arms when she and Draco walked over to stand in line. Another girl a couple years older than Alison turned and looked at her. She had jet-black hair in plaits, and wore a red tartan dress and black Mary Janes upon her feet.

"I've seen the Nutcracker five times before," the raven-haired girl bragged.

"This is my first time," Alison replied with a smile.

The other girl sniffed. "Well, it's good, and I like that I always get a new dress when I see it."

"I have a new dress too!" Alison cried.

The dark-haired girl sneered. "It looks homemade. Did your dad make it for you?" she asked while glancing at Draco.

Alison's bottom lip quivered. What had she ever done to this girl? "Madam Malkin made it for me at her store," she said in a quavering voice.

"I've never heard of that store. I bet you're making it up."

"I am not! I went to the store this very morning, and it was made for me right then!" Alison cried, mustering up her courage. "I don't like you, girl! Don't talk to me again, or I'll stand on your shoes!"

Draco had been listening to this exchange, to make sure it didn't get out of hand, and also to ensure that Alison didn't give away anything about the Wizarding world. He was quite proud of how she handled the situation. The dark-haired girl quickly turned around, and ignored Alison after that.

It took a few more minutes for them to get inside the building. Draco was glad, for it was quite cold, but Alison didn't seem to notice. Draco envied the fact that children never seemed to feel the cold.

Alison followed closely behind her uncle as he led her up a set of stairs. Most of the other families were going straight ahead, so she didn't understand why they were going a different way. When they got to the top of the stairs, though, she could see why. Uncle Draco had gotten them a private place to sit in. It was above everybody else in the audience, and close to the front. They had the whole box to themselves!

Once Alison had taken her coat off, and settled Lisandra into the seat next to her, she sat down next to Draco. A couple minutes later, somebody arrived with a mug of apple cider, and a plate of biscuits for Alison, and a cup of hot coffee for Draco.

Alison munched happily on a biscuit while looking around. "We're the highest ones here!" she exclaimed while catching a glimpse of the mean girl she'd talked to earlier. The girl saw Alison as well, and glared jealously at her, while Alison stuck her tongue out.

"Uncle Draco, this is the best ever!" she cried while squirming in her seat.

Draco made sure Alison had used the restroom again before the ballet started, for he didn't want her to miss any of it.

When the lights dimmed, and the orchestra began to tune their instruments, Alison settled back in her chair, with Lisandra under one arm, and her free hand entwined through Draco's.

The ballet was unlike anything Alison had ever seen before. It was exciting, magical, and altogether too exquisite for words. It was the height of grandness as far as she was concerned.

All of the women were so beautiful, and had such pretty dresses. Alison's heart panged for such a dress. She could only imagine the attention she'd get from wearing one of the white snowflake dresses. Maybe Nicky's friend Sev would talk to her…

It was during this performance, that Alison realized deep within her soul, that she was destined to be a world-famous ballet dancer someday. She'd be rich beyond her wildest dreams, and own a pony too. A pink pony. Named Draco.

By the time the ballet was over, Alison felt like she'd died and gone to heaven. It was the best experience she'd ever had in her entire life. As she and Draco walked out of the building, he asked her if she'd enjoyed herself. "This was the most funnest day ever ever in my whole entire life! Thank you so much, Uncle Draco!" Alison cried while dancing around him. "Did you have fun too?"

Draco smiled and nodded his head. "I did actually. I always enjoy spending time with you," he said while gently taking Alison by the hand and corralling her from dancing into the other patrons. "You were a very well-behaved girl today, and I'll make sure to tell your parents that."

Alison beamed and continued to hop around as much as Draco would let her. She'd calmed down by the time they reached the street. It was growing dark, even though it was still early in the evening.

The two walked in silence back to Diagon Alley. They stopped at the Leaky Cauldron for a Butterbeer before flooing back to Lupin's Hollow in Hogsmeade. Alison's eyes drooped the whole time they sat in their booth. She sipped on her Butterbeer quietly for a couple minutes before leaning her head against Draco's arm, and falling fast asleep.

Draco finished his Ambermead before picking Alison up in his arms, and carefully placing her head on his shoulder while using his wand to float her doll and their other purchases from throughout the day, behind them.

Alison wrapped her arms around Draco's neck while he walked over to the fireplace. She slept through the floo-ride home, and remained in her uncle's arms as he sat on the Lupin's sofa, and told her parents how the day had gone.

"Alison was a very well-behaved girl, and you should be very proud parents," he said quietly while looking at Ticia and James.

James smiled and squeezed Ticia's hand. "We've always been very proud of all our children," he replied. "And I must thank you for taking Alison out for the day. She loves to spend time with you."

"Yes, Draco, she's been looking forward to this for weeks now. It's all she's been talking about," Ticia said with a grin.

"She really enjoyed the ballet. She told me she wants to be a ballet dancer," Draco said before gazing down at Alison for a moment. "It's too bad she isn't the most coordinated of children, or I'd try to get her involved in it." Alison was well-known for having inherited her grandmother Tonks's gift of grace.

When the conversation died down, Draco handed Alison over to Ticia, who carefully walked her to her bedroom, and put her to bed. She made sure to put Alison's new doll in her arms before turning off the light and returning to the living room.

"Draco, thank you so much," Ticia said before kissing her brother's cheek.

"It was my pleasure," he replied before shaking James's hand. "Well, I'd better return to the Manor and see how Tanith is." Draco began to walk towards the fireplace. "I'll see you all on Christmas." With that, he flooed home, leaving James and Teecie alone again.

That night, Alison slept very soundly, while visions of sugar-plum fairies danced majestically in her dreams. When she woke up the next morning, she chattered away during breakfast, telling her family about her magical day with Uncle Draco. By the end of the day, everybody knew her tale by heart. It was a day that would stay with Alison for the rest of her life.


End file.
